Another First

From Summit County, Colorado:

"In January, the Summit County Sheriff's Office operations commander and SWAT team coordinator, Lesley Mumford, was called into Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons' office for a sit-down. Undersheriff Joel Cochran was there, too, and it seemed like this was no ordinary meeting.

"I was quickly trying to recall anything that I might have done to get me in trouble," Mumford said. "I was at a loss, but it seemed like a very serious conversation was about to take place."

The pall was quickly lifted when FitzSimons told Mumford she had been accepted into the FBI National Academy, an elite, 10-week training course for law enforcement in Quantico, Virginia.

Mumford is one of roughly 200 law enforcement agents from across the country selected for the academy, a rigorous blend of classroom work and physical training at the storied FBI campus and the bank of the Potomac. Candidates are chosen every year through an extremely selective nomination and invitation process.

Mumford's selection isn't just an honor for her, though. It's also a groundbreaking moment for the FBI and law enforcement generally, as she will be the first transgender woman to ever attend the academy in its 83-year history.

"I think it's a pretty amazing thing, a historical thing," Mumford said. "It makes me feel that society is changing, it makes me feel that as individuals we do have the ability to change and influence the world around us."

For more, go here.

Transgender Day of Visibility

Well it's here, another TDoV, and it's time to ask what does it mean to you?

Obviously, you don't have to color your hair violet and hit the world head on, you can take a quieter route.

I will be interested today to see what the rest of the participants wear to the Cincinnati event which is rumored to be attracting around two hundred. I wonder if some of, or most of the table participants in my group will be rocking their usual 4 or 5" heels. Some with seamed stockings. I will definitely be doing my share with my hair! With the amount of hair I have, even it was the usual red color it's been, it attracts attention anyhow. Most certainly, a woman my age is not supposed to have this much hair. By now, I am sure you have all surmised, I don't care. I can tie it back to blend in too.

You can do whatever you decide  this year and it will be fine! At the least,  if you are firmly in the closet think about voting out the bigots who are trying to take our transgender rights away! Who knows, someday, you may need those rights.

Plus, even if you are "just" meeting a new person or two when you do go out, it's up to you to educate the public many times.

Finally, if you feel the need to rock those heels and seamed stockings...do it with Pride!

Finally!

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging Ohio’s refusal to correct the gender marker on birth certificates for transgender individuals, for any reason, at any time. Ohio is one of just three states, with Tennessee and Kansas, that has yet to change the extremely regressive and outdated policy.

“This policy is not only archaic and out-of-step with the rest of America but also dangerous. Forcing transgender Ohioans to go through life with inaccurate birth certificates, a basic form of identification, unnecessarily exposes them to discrimination, harassment, and violence. It also denies them their very identity,” Lambda Legal Law Fellow Kara Ingelhart said. “In fact, government officials in Ohio know this, given that they allow transgender people to change the gender on their drivers’ licenses and state identification cards.”

“Ohio’s policy deprives transgender people who were born in Ohio of a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender identity,” said Susan Becker, General Counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. It’s past time Ohio complies with the Constitution’s promise that all people have a right to live freely and openly in society as who they are, without fear of discrimination.”

Word is, it will take approximately one year for the case to wind it's way through the legal system. Go here for more.

Unreasonable Fear!

From the Stars and Stripes, prez rump strikes again:

"PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — Just nine months ago, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lindsey Muller was feted as a guest speaker at an Army-sponsored LGBT pride observance at Camp Humphreys.

Now she’s worried she may lose her job after nearly two decades of honorable service because of a new push to ban most transgender troops from serving in the military.

Muller, a 36-year-old transgender aviator, is two months shy of beginning the lengthy process of retiring after what will have been 18 years of service. Even if she retires before the status of transgender servicemembers is finally resolved, thousands of others could be affected.

“I think they’ve proven their mettle in combat; they’ve proven their mettle in peacetime. They’re there for their peers when they need them, and I think to dismiss them would be a huge disservice,” she told Stars and Stripes in an interview Thursday."

Go here for more.

Yawn

It looks to be a real "yawner" coming up today.

Not much to do except color my hair and get some household chores done. To add insult to injury, it is a gray rainy day which even rained out the Cincinnati Reds opening day celebration and baseball game. It's one of the few games with hope attached,since they don't have a chance (yet) for another losing season.

As far as coloring my hair goes, I have to do a better job than last time. Somehow, I left a noticeable patch of hair uncolored on the back of my noggin. Naturally, this time I have to pay more attention. Plus, I am almost to the point of needling two boxes of color, because my hair is getting so long and thick.

I did find out too (from the Ginger Burr beauty blog) that Pantone has selected the 2018 color of the year and the winner is…ultraviolet. It is a beautiful shade of purple. Not as cool as periwinkle, but not as warm as some of the plums that are a little trickier to wear. So maybe my new hair color will fit right in!

Ultra Violet

I did get some good news from Liz yesterday, she wants to get our nails done Saturday before we good to the Transgender Day of Visibility, so far, we will be with five others taking care of the "Crossport Cincinnati" table, which is the cross dresser - transgender support group I belong to.

So, the weekend should be fun!

Off the Road Again

Two days this week (as I have previously written about here in Cyrsti's Condo), I found myself at yet another cross dresser- transgender support meeting and a visit with my therapist.   This week at the bi monthly meeting, we had a new attendee, a high school aged trans guy and his mother.

All went well, with plenty of feedback from both ends until one of the cross dressers opens his mouth and blurts out (again), he has to be a cross dresser because he likes women. Every time he says it, I correct him by saying his ultimatum does mean anything because I am transgender and like women too. I then went on to explain to the Mom, the difference between gender and sexuality. And how both operate on the LGBT continuum. Besides, I have met cross dressers who like men.

For everybody, I kept my speaking to a minimum on the subject. It's just that I get so sick and tired of him bringing it up and I think he might just be protesting too much!

At the meeting also, I was invited to join in at an outreach day for transgender veterans at the Cincinnati VA hospital campus. As a point of clarification, I go to the Dayton, Ohio center, so it will be interesting to see how it all works out. As it stands now, we have three trans vets involved in our group, plus another moving here from Tennessee soon.

As far as meeting with my therapist went, we didn't spend much time talking about me, since I was asking questions I needed to know about an upcoming interview I'm doing for our group's monthly newsletter. It should be interesting since another trans woman vet is joining in for her views too. We both go to separate hospitals for our care, it will be interesting to see the differences. She is the one whose hormones became so out of whack, her blood tests showed her to be pregnant. So, she has a lot to say! 

Violets in the Spring?

Years ago, I colored my hair a violet shade and received a lot of compliments, so I have decided to try it again.

In order to do it, I have to get this huge amount of hair that I have really clean, then leave it for one to two days before I color it. I have become more detailed orientated over the years when it comes to my hair but I still really have to concentrate on doing the whole process correctly.

My hair is a little longer than the model shown to the right (on the color box) and comes up with red highlights instead of the black shown here.

As you can see, it is quite the process!

Monday, Monday

So far, it looks like a fairly active week is shaping up so far. Tonight I have one of my cross dresser - transgender support group meetings. Normally something happens to get me riled up.

At the least though, it gives me something to write about here in Cyrsti's Condo! For example, last meeting, one member was pushing two new ones to "help" them go out shopping, etc. They seemed embarrassed by all the attention.

Tuesday is my monthly trip to my therapist, where I will have a chance to talk (no pun intended) about the possibility of going to a VA voice therapist or another. As I have mentioned, the voice problems I have, I consider to be one of my "gender transition" walls. When I brought it up to my partner Liz, she politely differed from saying anything real negative, which means she was holding back. I think, I can speak in "short bursts" well, but then lose it after I talk for anything length of time. Or, try to increase my volume much. I will see what my therapist says.

This also "hair week." I need to get this "mane" of hair I have colored again, before the Transgender Day of Visibility event Liz and I are going to on Saturday of this week. As I have written, I will be helping out on the Crossport Cincinnati information table we are setting out. I look forward to the event, and the week!

The Week in Review

Looking back on the week that has just passed, again I wonder where the time has gone. Last week in particular, went all too fast. Thursday, congratulations (and a nice upscale dinner) were in order as my partner Liz celebrated twelve years without smoking. As always, getting a little more dressed up and having a good time out and about was nice. It seems, the nicer the venue, the more unlikely it is I ever get any push back from being transgender.

Other than that, the week was very uneventful due in part to weather complications. We had a couple storms pass through which led me to canceling my Veterans Administration support group meeting.

Plus, while I am on the subject of transgender military troops, which is near and dear to my heart since I am a trans veteran; last week, President dump took on another attempt to ban transgender service members.

Fortunately, it's not a done deal with four cases in the court system fighting the ban. I think, if the truth be known (which it is rarely is), dump is again just trying to divert attention from all his other considerable problems. Discriminating against the transgender community is just an easy thing for him to do.

Also, the facts are exactly clear the Pentagon approves at all of a trans ban. I ran across a post in the Military Times which contains a couple of the memos. If you would like to read them, go here.

This week, slow down and have a great week!